Of Fire and Ice
by annalovesbooks2
Summary: Natalia Romanova is a young girl born in to nobility and has been engaged to the prince Loki since the day she was born. Despite this she feels that she is destined for something else, with one side of her a warrior and the other a princess which path will she chose to follow and how will it impact on a not so distant future. Medieval A.U. NatashaxLoki. Rated M for later chapters.


**If you could tell from the title this fic is indeed based off of Game of Thrones but there will also be some elements from BBC's Merlin in here as well. This fic might be slightly confusing unless you've seen Game of Thrones but just bear with me as I have a lot of great ideas for it. Thanks for reading anyway.**

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The prince's bride, that was all she was told all her life, raised like a caged animal and born into the highest blood of her land she was always destined to be a princess. Her last memory of her dear lost mother was having her hair pleated while she repeated to her once again how important it was to be ladylike. Her red flower had bloomed and she was more than eligible for marriage, at least by her family's standards. Her Mother and Father had passed away many years ago in the fire that wiped out nearly every house in her town, that was more than nine years ago and still the flames haunted her dreams, every waking minute, her mother's screams, she shuddered at the very thought of it.

The day had come a few nights back when she had supposedly 'become a woman'; at least that's what her chambermaid had said. The news had spread quickly and the wedding was planned immediately, she hadn't even seen all the nine kingdoms and she was being whisked away to Asgard where she guessed she would reside for the rest of her days. That wasn't the woman she wanted to be, she longed to see the mountains and sit down as the wind blew through her hair like in days from her youth. Even though she was barely six she could still remember it, that all changed when her Father died. It was always her Mother that insisted she should be more ladylike; her Father occasionally let her out on hunts with him, oh how she missed him.

She was left in the care of her Uncle who followed her Mother's wishes and made her into the woman she was. Little did he know, late at night she slipped out and walked through the deep forests, she had never made it as far as the mountains but she was always a little closer. Part of her wondered what Loki actually looked like, she had been told he was handsome and polite, she wasn't sure how true that was but she wasn't in the mood for internally debating how good of a husband she would have.

She sighed and looked down in self-pity, she was being made to wear a dress of the latest fashion, it had mixed colours of deep red and gold that was accompanied with a long train which was rather inconvenient. Her long red hair was tied back into a pleat and pinned firmly against her head, the style seemed ridiculous to her, she had never worn anything but normal dresses and always had her hair down, only on rare occasions did she pleat it back and even then, it was nothing like what she was wearing now.

She hated it, she found it hard to believe that people in Asgard found what she was wearing beautiful, she had no desire to wear anything like it for the rest of her days, she would miss her realm, it was the only true home for her.

"We must leave Natalia," her Uncle Ivan called from downstairs, looking back at her room for the last time she walked out to meet him.

"How long until we reach the castle?" she asked once she was standing next to him.

"We will reach the palace by nightfall," he answered opening the door for her "that is if we make haste," he added. Once she was outside she immediately went for a horse only to have her uncle pull her back sharply "you're going in the carriage," he said as it pulled up before them. Natalia looked at him in annoyance, she disliked being in the same space for hours on end, she loved the feeling of open air on a horse.

She expected that he didn't want her dress to get ruffled, she had to look her very best to impress the royals. Her uncle went stepped in first before offering her a hand to help her in, she accepted it and sat down on the other side resisting the urge to itch her back. She could only hope the journey would go quickly.

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The golden city gleamed back at her in the light of the setting sun, it was truly beautiful "this is my new home," she mumbled softly to herself, her Uncle seemed to pick up on what she had said.

"You shall have everything you could ever desire," he said his eyes shining with greed.

"I would be quite content with walking through the mountains," she grumbled in annoyance, she had grown tired of people telling her what she was going to have when all she could ever want was just a few miles away from her real home.

"Lose your attitude Natalia," he scolded "you're blessed with the gift of beauty; use it to your advantage."

She heard several trumpets sound as their carriage doors opened. She was helped out of the carriage first and she stepped down in a graceful manner, she had to be light on her feet, at least that's what her Uncle had taught her. She waited for her Uncle to get out before walking towards the golden steps with him at her side.

The entire place seemed so extravagant, there were people starving in their kingdom and here she was, going to live in the place all of her friends despised.

"Lady Natalia," a gentle voice called from the top of the steps, a woman's voice, she figured that it must have been Frigga "It has been many a full moon since I've last seen you," she said walking down to meet her. She had no memory of the woman whatsoever and she was sure that the only time Frigga had seen her was when she was a baby, young enough to be held in her arms.

Her Uncle had told her many times of the day the royals came to visit, her father was a good friend of Odin's, or so she was told, Odin insisted that their houses be joined and when he found that she was a girl the marriage to his son was arranged. They all had no doubt that she would be pretty, she did resemble her Mother in that, with her fiery red hair and heart shaped face, the only thing she had from her father was his wild green eyes.

"I'm honoured to be here your Majesty," she said humbly, curtseying as was customary for royals.

"Do not trouble yourself," she said leaning down hand cupping Natalia's cheek gently "we are to be family and you will treat me as such."

Natalia nodded in return and followed after her, having to hitch up her dress as she walked up the steps. Once she had reached the top she found only Odin and Thor waiting for her. Next to Thor stood a woman who was heavily armoured and looked more like a warrior than anything else, her black hair was tied back and she was always on her guard, Natalia wanted to speak to her more, she longed to ask her how she escaped the life that most women were made to lead, including herself.

"My Lady Natalia," Odin greeted her "you are most welcomed into our kingdom."

"I am very grateful to be here," she said in return, he was very different than to how her father had described him, his hair had turned white over the years and he wore an eye patch where his eye had been ripped out during the Great War. She had been told stories of it, the war had ended a few years before her birth and it had hit the realm of Midgard the worst. There was a time when the nine realms where separated, the dark ages when rape, disease and pillaging was rife across the kingdom. She was told that the King Odin united them and they could now live in harmony.

"Loki, come here this instant," his Mother called, he sighed in annoyance and stepped out of the shadows to meet his bride to be. She was as he expected her to be, he could tell from her dress, composure and manner of speaking that she was just the same as any other woman he had been acquainted with. She was beautiful, not unlike her Mother and aside from her piercing emerald eyes she didn't seem like anything extraordinary.

"My Lady," he said taking her hand in his and kissing it softly, she hoped he hadn't noticed how repelled she was. When he had last saw her she was but a baby in her crib, he would have only been six but he could remember still the celebrations throughout the kingdom. A new girl born into the Romanova line whom was destined to be queen, he wondered what it must have been like growing up, every girl and boy envying her. She looked like none of it affected her, as impassive as all the other girls born into nobility, they never had their own opinions and were always snobby.

"Shall we go in?" asked Frigga, speaking mostly to Natalia. They all followed suit as she headed towards the grand doors. She snuck a glance at Loki, he was indeed handsome but at the same time looked like a force to be reckoned with.

She gasped in awe at the sight of the high roofed ceiling, stone walls and marble floors, never in her life had she seen a room so big, it was the stuff of legends. Loki caught her look of surprise, perhaps she was but a country girl dressed as a princess. He wasn't sure which was worse, naivety or arrogance.

Natalia had heard talk of there being a grand ball in the evening to honour their betrothal but she wasn't sure she had the energy to attend. It had been a long journey and it had wearied her. It would be expected of her though, if she didn't attend her Uncle would be very disappointed and she figured since there was already a great celebration as soon as she was born for their marriage, the ball was just an excuse for her to be introduced to new people.

"Natalia dear, Loki will escort you to your chambers," Frigga said stopping at the doors to the throne room. Loki scowled at the thought of having to talk to her but agreed reluctantly.

Once they started in the direction of her chambers she tried talking to him, "I've never left Vanahiem before," she started, trying to keep up with his fast paced walking.

"I have visited all the nine realms," he said in return, he stopped walking and looked at her with an evil grin "believe me when I say you might not like what you see."

"My father was the ruler of Vanahiem and he had seen all of the nine realms," she said once he had turned around and started walking again.

"You don't visit this entire kingdom without making some enemies along the way," he said sparking her interest, she was sure her Uncle would have told her if there was something more sinister to her Mother and Father's deaths. They stopped at a spiral staircase before ascending it. Her bedroom was at the top of the tower. It shouldn't surprise her, she was always being isolated from people, and she wasn't even allowed to speak to men, aside from her Uncle. She wondered if she would have more freedom in Asgard. He left her at the top of the tower and went back down the stairs, it reminded her of the stories she used to read, princesses locked away in towers, waiting for a prince to come and rescue them. She didn't quite like the idea of being rescued; the person she imagined herself to be was locked away behind several layers of dress fabric.

All her life she felt that there was something she was missing, something that she had to do, and yet here she was, marrying the prince would surely put a stopper on her true destiny. She opened the door and shivered at the coldness of the room, despite the warmth of Asgard the room locked in the cold with its thick walls making staying in there an unpleasant experience. She walked over to the window and looked out, she was higher than she could ever imagine though she couldn't see much as the sun had nearly set. The branches of the old oak trees outside the palace walls creaked and groaned to the soft evening breeze, it was a lot warmer in Asgard than it was in Vanaheim and if she looked through the other window she could the deep blue waters that seemingly went on forever.

Despite the beauty of the sights around her the room was lonely, as if there wasn't any one around for miles. She hoped she wouldn't have to stay up there for long, she took a candle off the wall and warmed her hands with it, she heard a knock on her door. She moved away from the candle and opened the door cautiously.

"Hello milady," the brown haired girl said curtseying, she was clearly a maid of some sorts.

"Who are you?" she asked, opening the door a little more to inspect her further.

"I'm your handmaid," she replied a smiled lighting her gentle features "Jane," she added, Natalia relaxed a little "May I come in?"

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**Hope you enjoyed that :) If you have the time check out my other Fic "Avengers Academy" which has recently been updated. Thanks again.**

**- Anna **


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